Ah, now that’s the right color

We asked our floor guy to give us a natural, clear finish upstairs and a darker finish downstairs, but we didn’t get too specific with him before he started. I was supposed to meet him Monday morning but I was sick and sleeping in. We also forgot to specify anything for the stairs, which logically should match the floors on the first floor since that’s the most common place to see them. But they just ended up with the same clear coat as the upstairs.

Rachel wasn’t happy about the color that the oak stairs came out in with the clear finish, since the oak tends to come out a bit yellow with just a clear coat and polyurethane on them. Upstairs is heart pine, and while it has a slight yellowish tint, it’s also reddish and the wood is just too beautiful to stain. But those stairs were looking super yellow after the one coat of poly.

So we asked them to sand off that one layer of poly yesterday and give us a darker color to match what we want to do on the oak downstairs. I’d have to say the stairs look tons better now, don’t you think? The first floor should end up with the same tint as these stairs to match.

It’s Minwax “Provincial” in case anyone is wondering. It’s a nice pecan/walnut color, which really warms up the oak steps. The grade of the wood in the living and dining room is nicer white oak, and it should really look nice on that wood. We’ll know by this time next week.

Here’s a closer view of the steps. We’re getting a satin finish throughout the whole house, so the sheen will be dramatically reduced when it’s all done. I think this is just the stain and one coat of poly on the stairs.

Soon, I hope to finish sanding down the rest of the handrail, which is maple, and stain it the same color to match the floors. I’m not sure if I should repaint the spindles white or sand them down and stain them as well. They’re made of pretty cheap pine with wide grain.

The 3rd coat is going on upstairs today, so they’re almost done up there. And the kitchen will be sanded down and the first coat of poly applied by Saturday, so we can put the cabinets in there when they get delivered Saturday. Monday the kitchen starts going in, Tuesday we end our lease in Mt.P, and sometime that week the first floor gets finished.